14
Oct 11

G299.2-2.9: A Middle-Aged Supernova Remnant

Source: Chandra CXC


G299.2-2.9 is a supernova remnant found about 16,000 light years from Earth.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U. Texas at Arlington/S.Park et al, ROSAT;
Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF

G299.2-2.9 is an intriguing supernova remnant found about 16,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy . Evidence points to G299.2-2.9 being the remains of a Type Ia supernova, where a white dwarf has grown sufficiently massive to cause a thermonuclear explosion. Because it is older than most supernova remnants caused by these explosions, at an age of about 4500 years, G299.2-2.9 provides astronomers with an excellent opportunity to study how these objects evolve over time. It also provides a probe of the Type Ia supernova explosion that produced this structure. (read more)

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13
Oct 11

Distant Galaxies reveal the clearing of the Cosmic Fog

Source: ESO Science Release eso1138


A galaxy seen when the Universe was only 820 million years old.
Image credits:ESO/ L. Pentericci.

Scientists have used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to probe the early Universe at several different times as it was becoming transparent to ultraviolet light. This brief but dramatic phase in cosmic history — known as reionisation — occurred around 13 billion years ago. By carefully studying some of the most distant galaxies ever detected, the team has been able to establish a timeline for reionisation for the first time. They have also demonstrated that this phase must have happened quicker than astronomers previously thought. (read more)

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13
Oct 11

Amateur skywatchers help space hazards team

Source: ESA News


Detection of asteroid 2011 SF108.
Credits: ESA/TOTAS Survey Team

For the first time, observations coordinated by ESA's space hazards team have found an asteroid that comes close enough to Earth to pose an impact threat. The space rock was found by amateur astronomers, highlighting the value of 'crowd-sourcing' to science and planetary defense. (read more)

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12
Oct 11

New partners for the SpaceLab Contest for students

Source: ESA and YouTube

On October 10th, ESA, JAXA of Japan and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) joined the launch of 'YouTube Space Lab', an exciting campaign initiated by YouTube, NASA, Space Adventures and Lenovo that challenges students around the world to design a science experiment for the International Space Station.

The winning experiments will be conducted in space on the International Space Station (ISS), making it the Universe's largest science lesson, streamed live for the world to see via YouTube.

Space Lab is part of a larger YouTube effort, aimed at providing educators access to the wealth of educational content available on YouTube. Individually or in groups of up to three, students aged 14–18 years may submit a YouTube video describing their experiment to www.youtube.com/spacelab.

A panel of prestigious scientists, astronauts and teachers, including the renowned Professor Stephen Hawking, astronauts Frank De Winne, Samantha Cristoforetti and Timothy Peake of ESA, NASA’s Leland Melvin, Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA, Chris Hadfield of CSA and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté, will judge the entries with input from the YouTube community. Six regional finalists will gather in the USA in March 2012 to experience a zero-gravity flight and receive other prizes. (Go to SpaceLab Contest webpage)

 

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12
Oct 11

NASA releases new interactive Space communications game

Source: NASA News Release

NASA has released an interactive, educational video game called NetworKing that depicts how the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network operates. The release of the video game coincides with the close of World Space Week, Oct. 4-10.

Developed by the Information Technology Office at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., NetworKing gives players an insider's perspective into how astronauts, mission controllers and scientists communicate during space missions. (see game)

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11
Oct 11

The First Detection of Abundant Carbon in the Early Universe

Source: Subaru Telescope

A research team of astronomers, mainly from Ehime University and Kyoto University in Japan, has successfully detected a carbon emission line (CIVλ1549) in the most distant radio galaxy known so far in the early universe. Using the Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on the Subaru Telescope, the team observed the radio galaxy TN J0924-2201, which is 12.5 billion light years away, and was able to measure its chemical composition for the first time. Their investigation of the detected carbon line showed that a significant amount of carbon existed as early as 12.5 billion years ago, less than a billion years after the Big Bang. This important finding contributes to our understanding of the chemical evolution of the universe and may provide clues about the chemical nature of humans, who are composed of various elements such as carbon and oxygen.(read more)

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10
Oct 11

Soyuz - Galileo IOV - follow the launch preparations

Source: ESA


Testing of components of the Galileo system.
Image credits: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2011.

The first Soyuz flight from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana will carry the first two satellites of Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit is scheduled for 20 October. ESA has created a website to follow the launch. (see website)

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9
Oct 11

Mars Express observes clusters of recent craters in Ares Vallis

Source: ESA


Image was acquired by Mars Express at about 16°N/327°E during orbit 9393 on 11 May 2011.
The image has a ground resolution of 15 m per pixel.
Image credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Newly released images taken by ESA’s Mars Express show an unusual accumulation of young craters in the large outflow channel called Ares Vallis. Older craters have been reduced to ghostly outlines by the scouring effects of ancient water. (read more)

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9
Oct 11

Galileo: how does it work?

Source: ESA Online Videos

 

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Galileo will use the most accurate atomic clock in space to provide the most accurate positioning services. In fact, time is the key for the precision of satellite navigation systems.

 

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8
Oct 11

Arctic Sea ice continues to decline and hits second-lowest level

Source: NASA


Image credits: NASA.

Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low.

The Arctic ice cap grows each winter as the sun sets for several months and shrinks each summer as the sun rises higher in the northern sky. Each year the Arctic sea ice reaches its annual minimum extent in September. It hit a record low in 2007. (read more)

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7
Oct 11

ESA chooses next two science missions

Source: ESA Press Release 25-2011


ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Plan is designed to give
us new understanding and new views of the Universe.
Credits: NASA/ESA/ESO/W. Freudling (ST-ECF)

The powerful influence of the Sun and the nature of the mysterious 'dark energy' motivate ESA’s next two science missions. Solar Orbiter and Euclid were selected today by ESA's Science Programme Committee for implementation, with launches planned for 2017 and 2019.

These two missions are medium-class missions and are the first in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025  Plan.

Solar Orbiter will venture closer to the Sun than any previous mission.  It is designed to make major breakthroughs in our understanding of how the Sun influences its environment, in particular how the Sun generates and propels the flow of particles in which the planets are bathed, known as the solar wind.

Solar activity affects the solar wind, making it very turbulent, and solar flares create strong perturbations in this wind, triggering spectacular auroral displays on Earth and other planets.
Solar Orbiter will be close enough to the Sun to sample this solar wind shortly after it has been ejected from the solar surface, while at the same time observing in great detail the process accelerating the wind on the Sun’s surface. The mission’s launch is planned for 2017 from Cape Canaveral with a NASA-provided Atlas launch vehicle.

Euclid is designed to explore the dark side of the Universe. Essentially a space telescope, the mission will map out the large-scale structure of the Universe with unprecedented accuracy. The observations will stretch across 10 billion light years into the Universe, revealing the history of its expansion and the growth of structure during the last three-quarters of its history.

One of the deepest modern mysteries is why the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. This cosmic acceleration must be driven by something that astronomers have named ‘dark energy’ to signify its unknown nature. By using Euclid to study its effects on the galaxies and clusters of galaxies that trace the large-scale structure of the Universe, astronomers hope to be able to understand the exact nature of dark energy.

Euclid’s launch, on a Soyuz launch vehicle, is planned for 2019 from Europe’s Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.

“With the selection of Solar Orbiter and Euclid, the Science Programme has once more shown its relevance to pure science and to the concerns of citizens: Euclid will shed light on the nature of one of the most fundamental forces of the Universe, while Solar Orbiter will help scientists to understand processes, such as coronal mass ejections, that affect Earth’s citizens by disrupting, for example, radio communication and power transmission,” says Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.

Today’s announcement is the culmination of a process started in 2004 when ESA consulted the wider astronomical community to set Europe’s goals for space exploration in the coming decade. That exercise resulted in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Plan, which identified four scientific aims:  What are the conditions for life and planetary formation?  How does the Solar System work?  What are the fundamental laws of the Universe?  How did the Universe begin and what is it made of?

In 2007, a ‘call for missions’ was issued around these aims and resulted in a number of medium-class missions being considered.

“It was an arduous dilemma for the Science Programme Committee to choose two from the three excellent candidates. All of them would produce world-class science and would put Europe at the forefront in the respective fields. Their quality goes to show the creativity and resources of the European scientific community,” said Fabio Favata, Head of the Science Programme’s Planning Office.

The Science Programme Committee decided to maintain the PLATO mission, not selected for a flight opportunity on this occasion, as a possible competitor for a future flight opportunity.

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7
Oct 11

ESA finds that Venus has an ozone layer too

Source: ESA


Artist's impression of Venus Express. Credits: ESA.

ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has discovered an ozone layer high in the atmosphere of Venus. Comparing its properties with those of the equivalent layers on Earth and Mars will help astronomers refine their searches for life on other planets. (read more)

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6
Oct 11

Did Earth's oceans come from comets?

Source: ESA Press Release


Herschel observed comet Hartley 2  represented in its orbit on the left side and
the inset on the right side shows the image obtained with Herschel’s PACS instrument.
The two lines are the water data from HIFI instrument.
Image Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab; Herschel/HssO Consortium.

ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory has found water in a comet with almost exactly the same composition as Earth's oceans. The discovery revives the idea that our planet's seas could once have been giant icebergs floating through space.(read more)

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5
Oct 11

Draconid meteor outburst

Source: NASA Science News


Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in Nov. 1998.
Image credits: N.A.Sharp/NOAO/AURA/NSF

Forecasters say Earth is heading for a stream of dust from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. A close encounter with the comet's fragile debris could spark a meteor outburst over parts of our planet on October 8th.(read more)

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5
Oct 11

NASA leads study of unprecedented Arctic ozone loss

Source: NASA News


Artist's rendition for AURA.
Credit: NASA/AURA.

A NASA-led study has documented an unprecedented depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring caused by an unusually prolonged period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere.

The study, published online Sunday in the journal Nature, finds the amount of ozone destroyed in the Arctic in 2011 was comparable to that seen in some years in the Antarctic, where an ozone "hole" has formed each spring since the mid 1980s. The stratospheric ozone layer, extending from about 10 to 20 miles (15 to 35 kilometers) above the surface, protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

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4
Oct 11

ALMA opens its eyes

Source: ESO Organisation Release eso1137


Antennae Galaxies composite of ALMA and Hubble observations.
Image credits: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO).
Visible light image: the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Humanity's most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers. The first released image, from a telescope still under construction, reveals a view of the Universe that cannot be seen at all by visible-light and infrared telescopes. Thousands of scientists from around the world have competed to be among the first few researchers to explore some of the darkest, coldest, furthest, and most hidden secrets of the cosmos with this new astronomical tool. (read more)

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4
Oct 11

NASA Awards Historic Green Aviation Prize

Source: NASA Press Release

NASA has awarded the largest prize in aviation history, created to inspire the development of more fuel-efficient aircraft and spark the start of a new electric airplane industry. The technologies demonstrated by the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, sponsored by Google, competitors may end up in general aviation aircraft, spawning new jobs and new industries for the 21st century.

The first place prize of $1.35 million was awarded to team Pipistrel-USA.com of State College, Pa. The second place prize of $120,000 went to team eGenius, of Ramona, Calif.

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3
Oct 11

A satellite's story

Source: ESA Online Videos

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Everything must come to an end – including satellites. After 16 years of loyal service observing Earth, the ERS-2 satellite has retired. This edition of Space tells the life story of the venerable satellite.

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2
Oct 11

The strange attraction of Gale Crater

Source: NASA Science News


 

NASA's newest rover "Curiosity" is getting ready to leave Earth. Its destination: Gale Crater on Mars. Today's story from Science@NASA explains the attraction of this Martian crater with a strangely-sculpted mountain the middle.(read more)

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1
Oct 11

WISE finds fewer asteroids near Earth

Source: NASA/WISE


Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer  near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. The findings also indicate NASA has found more than 90 percent of the largest near-Earth asteroids, meeting a goal agreed to with Congress in 1998.

Astronomers now estimate there are roughly 19,500 -- not 35,000 -- mid-size near-Earth asteroids. Scientists say this improved understanding of the population may indicate the hazard to Earth could be somewhat less than previously thought. However, the majority of these mid-size asteroids remain to be discovered. More research also is needed to determine if fewer mid-size objects (between 330 and 3,300-feet wide) also mean fewer potentially hazardous asteroids, those that come closest to Earth.

The results come from the most accurate census to date of near-Earth asteroids, the space rocks that orbit within 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) of the sun into Earth's orbital vicinity. WISE observed infrared light from those in the middle to large-size category. The survey project, called NEOWISE, is the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE mission. Study results appear in the Astrophysical Journal. (read more)

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